Community Board gets three new appointed members

November 29th

The Motueka Community Board has swelled in number from four to seven with the decision by Tasman District Council to appoint the three Motueka Ward councillors as full members of the board.

Councillors Jack Inglis, Eileen Wilkins and Barry Dowler will now attend monthly board meetings and have full voting rights along with the four elected members David Ogilvie, Paul Hawkes, Mark Chapman and Cliff Satherley. Council voted to make this change at yesterday's council meeting. (This move was foreshadowed in this news report last week)

The appointment of elected councillors to community boards is allowed and covered by Section 50 of the Local Government Act 2002. Under section 19F of the Local Electoral Act 2001 the number of appointed members is to be less than half the total number of community board members, and Council appointees are to come from the ward in which the community is situated. The decision to appoint is one for the Council. For the past term this option was not exercised.

Up until the previous term of Council it was accepted practice to appoint ward Councillors to the Community Board provided those Councillors accepted the appointment. Given the boards are made up of four directly elected members, the council is able to appoint up to three Councillors.

Councillors serving on community boards are subject to certain conditions, the most stringent being that if a councillor has already voted on an issue at a board meeting they cannot then vote on the same issue at council level as they are considered to have a pre-determined view. This is sure to introduce some interesting debates, strategies and voting patterns at board meetings, and Motueka Online will keep ratepayers appraised of all developments and outcomes. (See also discussion following this article.)

A similar set-up will occur for the Golden Bay Community Board, to which two councillors have now been appointed.

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